Nutella Brownies

A few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon, I was looking for something to bake. After searching through my bookmarked recipes, I settled on these Nutella Brownies. The recipe is from the wonderful baker Abby Dodge! These are from her book, Desserts 4 Today. Seems I am not the only one searching for a Sunday afternoon treat. Abby blogged about baking these on a Sunday afternoon with her goddaughter.

When I was finished filling the muffin tins, I had 6 brownies.  The recipe said it made 12?  Oops, that was 12 MINI not regular size cupcakes.  I am so bad about not reading the recipe closely!

 These brownies are a delicious Sunday (or any) afternoon treat. I'd like to try them with a different chip, maybe peanut butter or toffee. What combinations can you think of?

Nutella Fudge Brownies

Recipe Courtesy of Abby Dodge
 Yield: 12 brownies
 Here’s what you’ll need:
 1/2 cup Nutella spread
 1 large egg
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup chocolate chips
 Here’s how to make them:
 1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup mini muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2. Put the Nutella and egg in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth and well blended. Add the flour and whisk until blended.
 3. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins (about 3/4 full) and sprinkle evenly with the chocolate chips
 4. Bake until a pick comes out with wet, gooey crumbs, about 12 minutes. Set on a rack to cool completely. Serve at room temperature.
Switch-Ins: In place of the chocolate chips, switch in the following: Chopped toasted nuts 1/4 cup

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday, Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday and Sweet Tooth Friday!!!

Countdown to 2012 - Desserts

It's been so fun this week taking a look back at my favorite recipes of 2011. A big thank you to Sno White of Finding Joy in My Kitchen for hosting this party!!!

Our final countdown is my favorite recipe category, Desserts! Although I don't know for sure but if I had to guess I would think I've posted more desserts than any other category in 2011. I do love dessert but I also belong to two baking groups.

What were my favorite dessert recipes of 2011?

Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake

Cake Batter Ice Cream

Payard's Flourless Chocolate Cake

Happy New Year everyone! Cheers to 2012!

Chocolate Rice Krispie Bars - Chocolate WIth Francois

Things have been a little crazy around here lately, I will share more once we know how it all shakes out. Needless to say, I was thrilled with this month's Chocolate With Francois recipe. Rice Krispie Treats, seriously? Way too easy for Francois. Of course, he just had to add an element to differentiate his from those Rice Krispie Treats we all know and love. His recipe calls for the Rice Krispie treats to be shaped into round spheres.

I made a half recipe, took the easy way out and used a 9 x 9 glass pan. Sometimes regular Rice Krispie Treats seem too sweet. You know when it's so sweet your teeth hurt? The cocoa in these seems to cut the sweetness making these delicious.



Thanks to Linda of Diva Weigh for choosing this month's recipe. You can find the recipe on her blog!

I am linking this to Foodie Friday, Full Plate Thursday and Sweet Tooth Friday!

Strawberry Rhubarb Dump Cake

One of my favorite signs of Springtime is rhubarb. Although rhubarb desserts aren't my first choice, I like them better than I did as a kid. There's so many great recipes using rhubarb. My favorite rhubarb recipes are those that combine rhubarb and another fruit. When I ran across this recipe over at Finding Joy in My Kitchen, I bookmarked it to try.

If you have rhubarb in your garden, give this recipe a try. This cake has great flavor and the coconut gives the topping a nice crunch.



Grandma's Strawberry Rhubarb Dump Cake
Recipe courtesy of Finding Joy in My Kitchen

4 C rhubarb
1 C sugar
3 T cornstarch
1 box (4 servings) Strawberry Jello
1 small can crushed pineapple
1 box dry yellow cake mix
1/2 C butter
1/2 C coconut

Combine rhubarb, sugar and cornstarch in a pan and heat until warm; stirring frequently as rhubarb cooks and becomes thick. When thicken, pour rhubarb into a 9x13 glass pan. Sprinkle with strawberry jello and 1 can of crushed pineapple (do not drain, use the juice!).

Meanwhile, mix together cake mix and butter until crumbly. Stir in coconut. Sprinkle over the rhubarb mixture.

Bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes.

*If you wish to make a bottom crust, place 1/2 of the cake mixture over the bottom of the cake pan and press to form. Bake crust for 10 minutes at 350. Then pour cooked rhubarb over the top and follow the directions above.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tuesday's at the Table.

Yogurt Parfaits with Chocolate Granola - CWF

If you follow Chocolate With Francois, you know we all talk about the difficulty and complexity of many (most) of the recipes. As I was flipping through the book trying to decide what to choose for the May recipe, I knew it needed to be an easy one. The posting date would fall just after Michael's graduation and Memorial Day weekend. As a child I remember my mom saying "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today". I really wanted to make this recipe before we left town for the long Memorial Day weekend. I bought the ingredients I didn't have, read the recipe, left the cookbook on the counter and still didn't get it done until we got home. I don't think I listened to her advice as a kid either!!!

Chocolate granola seems a bit counter intuitive since I think of granola as somewhat healthy. I see this recipe for dessert rather than breakfast. The granola is easy to put together, uses ingredients most of us have in our kitchens and is delicious!

To make the parfaits you layer brown sugar glazed bananas, yogurt with orange zest and the chocolate granola. I love brown sugar glazed bananas but didn't care for them in this recipe. As well, I thought the orange zest overpowered the simple flavor of the vanilla yogurt. I think this would be best served with just the vanilla yogurt and the chocolate granola. There's too many flavors going on to really enjoy the yummy chocolate granola.



If you're curious what the other CWF members thought of this recipe and I know I am, you can find the links to their blogs here!


Yogurt Parfaits with Chocolate Granola
Serves 8

Chocolate Granola
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup raisins

Yogurt
One 32 ounce container vanilla yogurt
Grated zest of 1/2 orange


Bananas
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 ripe bananas, cut into 1/4 inch slices

Make the granola. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, walnuts, coconut, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Stir with your hands or a spatula to make sure everything is evenly distributed. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of the honey over the mixture, and mix with a silicone spatula until it is well incorporated. Spread the mixture in the prepared baking sheet, anthd bake for 15 minutes, without stirring. Remove from the oven and let cool.

In a large bowl, mix together the chocolate chips, raisins and the remaining tablespoon of honey. Add the cooled granola and toss the mixture together, slightly breaking up the granola. The granola can be stored in an airtight contained in a cool, dry environment for up to 1 week.

Make the yogurt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the orange zest and yogurt until combined. Keep the yogurt cold until ready to use, up to 2 days.

Make the bananas. Put the butter in a large saute pan over medium high heat, and let it melt until it just begins to brown. Add the brown sugar, and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until the sugar is melted. Add the bananas, and cook them until they pick up a little bit of color, about 1 minute.

Assemble the parfait. Place a spoonful of warm bananas (the equivalent of 1/2 banana per glass) at the bottom of a tall glass. Place 1/2 cup yogurt over the bananas, and top with the granola, just before serving. Repeat for the remaining 7 glasses.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's, Tuesday's at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tuesday Night Supper Club.

Butterfinger Cheescake

I always been known for my cheesecakes. For family gatherings or parties, people request my cheesecake. So why is it after two years of blogging I haven't posted a cheesecake recipe? I guess I've been too busy trying new recipes.

This recipe comes from a restaurant that used to be at Oak Park Mall in Kansas City, Paradise Diner. It's a rich and creamy cheesecake. Over the years, I've made lots of changes to this recipe. I've used an oreo cookie crust instead of the graham cracker crust, substituted a variety of candy bars, oreo cookies or thin mint cookies for the Butterfingers. The possibilities are endless!! To help a little with the tremendous number of calories and fat in this recipe, you can use the low fat sour cream and cream cheese. Do not use the no fat!!

If you like cheesecake, give this one a try! You won't be sorry!!!!



Butterfinger Cheesecake
- from the Paradise Diner

Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 ounces butter, melted
Mix together. Pat into the bottom of a 10 inch springform pan.

Filling
2 pounds cream cheese
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
4 Butterfinger candy bars, chopped

Cream together cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Scrape bowl after each addition. Mix until smooth. Fold in candy, reserving some for the top of the cheesecake. Pour into crust and bake at 300 degrees 45 minutes to one hour. To test for doneness, shake pan lightly. Cheesecake is done when filling is firm.

Topping

1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar

Spread on hot cheesecake. Chill overnight. Garnish with remaining chopped Butterfingers.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum!

Rhubarb Dessert - Revisited

The past couple of weeks I have featured recipes from some of the "Mom's" who have touched my life. There was Nana's Chocolate Cake and Mrs. Flint's Banana Bread. Today, I am featuring my Mother In Law, Bernie's Rhubarb Dessert.

You can find the original post and recipe here!

I am linking this to Foodie Friday!

Slow Cooker Apple Crisp

I use my slow cooker all the time for main dishes and every once in a while for side dishes but I've never made a dessert in it. Recently I've seen several recipes for cobblers or crisps made in the slow cooker. Curious, I decided to give it a try.

I cooked this on low for about four hours. I removed the lid and placed a towel underneath to help remove the moisture and increase the "crispness". The addition of the butterscotch pudding gives this a wonderful caramel flavor. While this doesn't have quite the same crunch and as one baked in the oven, it makes a delicious dessert and you can't beat the smell of the apples cooking in the kitchen.



Slow Cooker Apple Crisp
Recipe courtesy of CD Kitchen

5 large sliced peeled tart apples
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1 package (3-1/2-ounce size) cook-and-serve butterscotch pudding mix
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine
Vanilla ice cream or Whipping Cream -- optional


PREPARATION:

Place apples in a 3-qt. slow cooker.

In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, oats, pudding mix and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the apples.

Cover and cook on low for 5 hours or until apples are tender. Serve with ice cream or whipping cream, if desired.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday, Tuesday's at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tuesday Night Supper Club.

From The Good Life

You know how it's still okay to send a thank you note within a certain amount of time? Is there a certain amount of time when it's too late to be posting about a past event? I am going to say as long as it is within a month you're still good, okay?

Our friends Karen and Larry came to visit for New Year's. On Friday afternoon, we went to see Little Fockers. My son Justin and his girlfriend Lily worked on the movie. When Tim and I were in Los Angeles for Thanksgiving in 2009 we were lucky enough to see the heart attack scene being filmed. It was fun to see the scene on the big screen!


We decided to be safe and stay in on New Year's Eve. The final step in our main course was grilling for 10 - 15 minutes. Tim, being a Minnesotan who will grill in cold weather, agreed to grill for me! He scooped out a path and brushed the snow off the grill. Thanks, Tim! You helped make our New Year's dinner special! Here's our menu!

Mixed Grill with Spicy Bourbon Sauce

Potato Gratin with Rosemary Crust

Honey Orange Glazed Carrots

Lemon Pots de Creme

One of my food blogging goals for 2011 is to entertain more. This is the perfect menu for entertaining! I will be making these recipes again soon!


When I read the recipe for the mixed grill sauce and saw it contained 3 tablespoons of chili spice, I was concerned. No need for concern, it wasn't spicy at all. I am sure whatever chili sauce you use makes a difference in the spice level, too. I halved the recipe but ended up making a full recipe of sauce. I am glad I did, it was so delicious.




Since there were only four of us, I made the gratin in a 7" springform pan, the size was perfect. The flavors of the two potatoes and gruyere cheese were perfect together.

Not much to say about the honey glazed carrots except they were melt in your mouth delicious. (In the rush to get photos and serve dinner before it was cold, I thought we snapped a shot of the carrots but apparently not.)



After a fairly heavy dinner, the lemon pots de creme were the perfect light finale! I thought the amount of lemon in these was just right. Tim said he thought they were too lemony. I think it depends on whether or not you are a big fan of lemon desserts.

What's your favorite menu for entertaining?

Peppermint Whoopie Pies

If you have a Trader Joe's in your area, did you have the Candy Cane Joe Joe's cookies this holiday season? If so, you know how delicious they are. These cookies were my inspiration for Christmas Eve dessert, Peppermint Whoopie Pies. When I shared with people I'd be making Whoppie Pies, most people didn't know what Whoopie Pies were. They'd say are they like Moon Pies? Funny after I decided to make them, I received my Bon Appetit with an article discussing whether Whoopie Pies or Macarons are the new cupcake. My vote would be for Whoopie Pies, Bon Apetite chose Macarons.

These were were fun and easy to put together. I used a medium cookie scoop and it worked perfectly. Although, mine weren't all a unfiform size. These are like little cake tops filled with delicious marshmallow frosting. If you haven't tried Whoopie Pies yet and are looking for a new dessert, give these a try.



Peppermint Crunch Whoopie Pies
Recipe Courtesy of Paula Deen
Prep. Time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes/batch of cookies
Level: Intermediate
Yield: 18-21 large whoopie pies or 33-38 medium

For Cookies
Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs, room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
6.5 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two half-sheet pans with Silpats or lightly grease.

In a large (at least 5 quart) bowl of stand mixer, cream sugar and butter with paddle attachment for 3-5 minutes. Add eggs, beating well after each. Add vegetable oil and vanilla and beat.

In a large separate bowl, sift dry ingredients together.

With mixer on very low speed, gradually add half of the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Blend well. With mixer running on low, add 1 1/2 cups of the milk. Mix until blended. Repeat with remaining dry ingredients and milk.

Using a standard 1/4-cup ice cream scoop, place batter on baking sheets, spacing 2-3” apart. Bake 12 minutes, rotating pans (move lower pan to top level and top level to lower level) after the first 6 minutes. Remove cookies from oven and transfer to cooling racks. Repeat with remaining batter. Don’t worry if some are a little cracked on the top – that’s normal! Cool completely prior to filling.

For Filling
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/2cups vegetable shortening
9 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 cups marshmallow creme
4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
½ teaspoon salt
1 lb hard peppermint candies

Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl of mixer and beat until fluffy with paddle attachment.

Place peppermints in heavy plastic bag and crush with hammer or flat side of meat tenderizer. Sift crushed mints through fine sieve to separate dust from bits of candy. Fold ½ of candy bits plus “dust” into the filling. Reserve other half of candy pieces for garnish.

ASSEMBLY: Place a scoop of filling on the flat side of one cookie. Place another cookie, flat side down on top, pressing down gently. Roll edges of icing in remaining crushed peppermints.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tuesday's at The Table.

Countdown to 2011 - Dessert

Thanks to SnoWhite of Finding Joy in My Kitchen for hosting Countdown to 2011 this week. I have really enjoyed looking back through my recipes and finding my favorites.

It's no secret, I love dessert. Finding my favorite in this category wasn't easy. I could have chosen Dorothy Mackey's Apple Dapple Cake, Plum Clafoutis, Chocolate Banana Trifle or Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Torte. My favorite dessert, Creme Brulee Cheescake Bars, was first posted by my blogging pal Gnee of Singing with Birds. Gnee's desserts are the best!!

Happy New Year to everyone and here's to 2011's recipes!!!

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum! Also, there's still time to enter my giveaway here!! The winner will be announced tomorrow!

Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bars

This week's SMS recipe is Coconut Pecan Frosting on the cake of your choice. We're not big on coconut, so I am posting this delicious recipe instead. SMS is being hosted by one of my blogging friends, Eliana of A Chica Bakes. Stop by her blog, I am sure her creation is amazing.

Have you met my blogging pal, Gnee of Singing With Birds? If you haven't, stop by her place and introduce yourself. Gnee shares the best recipes and takes amazing photographs.

What are your favorite desserts? For me it's anything chocolate, cheesecake and creme brulee. I am not a fan of fruit desserts. Why is that? I think it's because as my father said last weekend, I was raised on donuts and ice cream. When I saw Gnee's Creme Brulee Cheesecake bars, I knew I would be making them soon!

If you're watching what you eat, close this post now!! I can't even imagine the number of calories and fat grams in these bars. I'm sure that's why they are so decadent. It's a good thing I shared these with friends and co workers. Otherwise, I'd have eaten way too many.

Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars from Betty Crocker
Recipe Courtesy of Singing With Birds

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1 box (4-serving size) French vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs plus 3 egg yolks
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup toffee bits, finely crushed

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, pudding mix, brown sugar, melted butter, 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and 1 whole egg until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of pan.
2. In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining whole egg, 3 egg yolks and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla; beat until smooth. Spread over crust in pan.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until set in center. Immediately sprinkle top with crushed toffee bits. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 3 hours or until chilled. For bars, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
Makes 36 bars

A Giveaway!!! & Peanut Butter Parfaits

Are you familiar with CSN Stores? I wasn't until a few months ago. CSN Stores has EVERYTHING, from dining room furniture to cookware. Do you like to shop? I LOVE to shop! Browsing and deciding what to buy is one of my favorite things. My mother used to call it window shopping!! As a reader of my blog, you're going to get the chance to shop!!! CSN stores is giving one of my readers (in the USA or Canada) a promo code good for $50.00 in merchandise from their stores.

How to enter is simple!! Sign up to be a follower of my blog and leave me a comment! If you're already a follower, just leave me a comment and you're entered. Also, I'd love to hear what you like to shop for or your favorite place to shop. I will be picking a winner on August 1st. Good luck and thanks for reading my blog!!!

Now for this week's Foodie Friday recipe...Peanut Butter Parfaits. One of the fun things about baking cakes to decorate is you always have leftover cake tops. It’s fun to come up with creative uses for them. Cake Pops are a fun creation to make with cake tops. My final cake for the Fondant and Gum Paste class I took last month, was a Peanut Butter Cake. No recipe for this cake, just a yellow cake mix with a 1/2 cup of peanut butter added. It’s moist and delicious.

I decided to make Peanut Butter Parfaits with my leftover cake. Parfaits are so fun and a smaller (much less caloric) version of a trifle. As I was riffling through my glasses, I realized I don’t own parfait glasses. I know I’ve passed them up numerous times at Goodwill, thinking oh one more set of glasses, I don’t need them. How about stemless wine glasses?

Peanut Butter Parfaits

Peanut Butter Cake
Vanilla Instant Pudding
½ cup peanut butter

Whisk ½ cup of peanut butter, gradually whisk in 2 cups of milk. When smooth, whisk in the instant pudding mix. Chill 10 – 15 minutes. Layer the pudding and cake, finishing with a layer of pudding. Drizzle the top with chocolate sauce.

These parfaits were a quick and easy dessert.





I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Rhubarb Pie - Foodie Friday

What do you think of when you think of Rhubarb? Everything I’ve been reading recently describes rhubarb as the pie plant. When I think of pies, I think of custard and chocolate. I can’t make a good pie crust, so I don’t bake many pies. Pie crust is on my list of cooking challenges to conquer.

Our good friend, Lynn gave me a large bag of rhubarb from his garden. The night he gave it to me, we discussed what we thought of when thinking of rhubarb. Lynn’s answer was pie. When I think of rhubarb pie, I think of strawberry/rhubarb pie. I asked Lynn and he said nope just plain rhubarb. I chopped it all up and began contemplating what to make. I made a Rhubarb Betty and had enough to make Lynn his plain rhubarb pie.

I started searching for rhubarb pie recipes and was amazed at how simple they all are. I settled on Martha Stewart’s recipe. I liked that it had a crumble topping instead of a second crust. I wish I could say, I worked on conquering that fear of pie crust with this pie but not so much! When you give someone a pie, you want it to be good, right? To be sure the crust was good; I purchased the ready made kind in the box.

I had leftover rhubarb mixture and crumble, so I made a couple of crumbles. Not being a big rhubarb fan, I wasn’t sure if I would like the crumble. I enjoyed this dessert. It was tart but not too tart and had a nice flavor. Lynn said the pie was awesome and wondered what I was bringing him for dessert next week next week.



I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

No SMS - The Last Kid on the Block - Cake Pops

This week's SMS is Coconut Custard Pie chosen by Ruby of I Dream of Baking. Sorry Ruby, I am skipping this one. We're celebrating Memorial Day weekend at the lake with our friends Karen Larry. Instead am sharing my cake pops with you.

Okay I feel really old writing this and you’re going to think I am really old when you read this. I am not exactly sure how old I was but I remember all of my friends families were getting color television's for the first time. See I told you you’d think I am really old! I’d go to their houses and they’d have the new shiny, GIANT console color TV. I was so envious. I’d go home and say dad everyone’s getting a color tv but us. Funny, my father is conservative in spending money on some things, like color tv’s. Other things not so much, at 91 years old he still talks about wanting a new Buick. I was the last kid on block with a color tv but my dad always had that shiny new car.

About now you might be asking, what does this have to do with Cake Pops? I’ve had Cake Pops bookmarked since I started blogging and have never gotten around to making them. Thanks to Bakerella, cake pops are everywhere on the blogsphere. I feel like the last kid on the block or in the blogsphere to blog about cake pops.

If you’ve been following my blog the past few weeks, you know I am taking cake decorating classes. Three of the four weeks of class we baked and decorated a cake. Before decorating, you slice off the rounded top of the cake to make it flat and level. What to do with those cake tops? You can’t throw away the perfectly good cake top. It makes a cute cake top cake. I froze the tops from the other two weeks in anticipation of finally making cake pops.

I took the easy way out on this batch and used canned frosting. I think next time, I will make homemade for an even more delicious flavor. I am taking cake decorating classes at Michael’s. I took advantage of the coupon and bought Wilton chocolates for melting. Since this chocolate already had little colored sprinkles in it, I skipped the decorating.

Cake pop’s are easy and fun to put together. The only challenge is getting the cake to stay on the stick while dipping the chocolate. I ended up dipping my sticks in chocolate, putting them in the cake ball and refrigerating for an hour or so before dipping. It seemed to help, although I still had a few casualties. My family and coworkers loved these. I am looking forward to making them again. There's so many fun possibilities.

Cake Pops
Recipe adapted from Bakerlla
1 13X9 baked cake (box cake mix or from scratch … any flavor)
1 can cream cheese frosting
1 package dark chocolate melts
1 package colored or white melts
wax paper
lollipop sticks
sprinkles or something similar for top of cake pop
Styrofoam block (Very important!)

Bake your cake and let it cool completely. Take your cake and place it in a large bowl and crumble into the finest pieces possible (This is very, very important).
Mix in the frosting. Put in the refrigerator for about an hour or the freezer for about 20 minutes. (This helps a lot with the consistency) Roll into balls of your desired size - usually about 1" balls work best. Melt your chocolate and stir it well. I added a little parfin. I always add this to my Peanut Butter Balls. It gives them a nice sheen and the chocolate dries nicely. Add your decorations to the cake pop while the chocolate is still wet. Place into a styrofoam block to let dry. Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

My good friend, Larry loves bread pudding. Whenever we get together, I don't need to ask what dessert he would like. I know his answer will be bread pudding. He's pretty much a bread pudding purist. I think it goes back to his childhood. His mom always made bread pudding with the leftover homemade bread. One time years ago, when I first decided to make bread pudding I asked Larry's mom for her recipe. She was such an old fashioned cook, no recipes for her. She said I just take some bread, eggs, milk and cinnamon and mix it all up and bake it. Maybe she said raisins, too. There's a few things I can make without a recipe but baking, I always have to follow a recipe.

I don't know if Larry would like the Pumpkin Bread pudding but we sure did. I made quite a few changes to the recipe. Mostly because of what I did or didn't have on hand. I cut the recipe in half and it worked nicely to fill three ramekins. I had leftover sweetened condensed and evaporated milk from this month's Martha Stewart recipe, Tres Leches Cupcakes. I was wondering what I was going to do with it when I had one of those aha moments. I can use it in the Pumpkin Bread Pudding. When we made the Pumpkin No vanilla beans for me, they're just too expensive. I do want to try vanilla bean paste. I didn't have any whole cloves or fresh ginger. My spice mixture consisted of vanilla extract, a pinch of ground cloves, a pinch of ground ginger and two cinnamon sticks. I felt like the pudding was plenty moist by itself, so I decided to forgo the sauce. We certainly don't need anything else made with cream.




This is a delicious dessert. Kind of fun to have a pumpkin dessert in Springtime. I am going to file this one in my holiday file. This would make a great addition to the Thanksgiving Day table.

Thanks to Carmen of Baking Is My Zen for choosing a great recipe. You can find the links to check out the other SMS bakers here.

Pink Saturday - Berry Sorbet & Flowers

Pink is my favorite color! Interesting how our taste in colors changes, as a kid yellow was my favorite color. Pink is fun, happy color and makes me smile.

I am linking this post to the group Pink Saturday's. Check it out, there's some fun posts there!!!

Recently, I found some great bargains on berries. How can you pass up a bargain on berries in winter. There's so many delicious things you can make with berries not to mention how wonderful they are delicious by themselves. I decided to make Berry Sorbet. What a fantastic late Winter treat.

Berry Sorbet
1 quart

4 cups strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries, or a combination
(I used strawberries, raspberries and blackberries)
3/4 cup cranberry/raspberry juice
3/4 cup agave syrup
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons vodka

Blend the berries with the juice in a blender or food processor. Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed strainer into a bowl, to remove the seeds. Stir in the agave syrup, lemon juice, salt, lemon zest, and vodka. Chill several hours or overnight. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Let the sorbet sit in the freezer for a few hours before serving.

My husband surprised me with these beautiful flowers. Just because!

Easy Chocolate Mousse - Sweet Melissa Sunday's

Happy Valentine's Day!

Quick post and iPhone picture for me today. We are in Kansas City with our good friends Karen and Larry!

Easy Chocolate Mousse? I guess it depends on how you define an easy recipe? To me, easy doesn't require three bowls and two different rounds with the mixer. I've never made chocolate mousse so maybe compared to other recipes this is easy.

Mine didn't quite turn out as it should have. Instead of whisking the egg whites into the chocolate I folded them in. I read the recipe SEVERAL times but still messed up. I hate it when that happens. My mousse ended up with little chunks of chocolate in the mousse. Everyone really liked it and we renamed it Chocolate Chip Mousse.



Thanks to Spike of Spike Bakes for choosing a great Valentine's Day recipe. You can find the links to all of the other Sweet Melissa Sunday's members here. I'm sure you'll find lots of pictures of beautiful chocolate chip mousse (without the chips).

Grapefruit Granita

I love fresh citrus fruit. Grapefruits are so beautiful and a wonderful breakfast treat. Since we're getting ready to leave town, I am following my "Use It Up" philosophy and trying to make sure I use as much as I can before we leave town. I was trying to think of something fun to make with grapefruits. I've never made a granita. They are so pretty and easy to make.

Grapefruit Granita

Juice of 2 ruby red grapefruits
1 cup water
1/2 cup honey

Bring water to a simmer, remove from heat and pour in the honey. Allow to cool and stir in grapefruit juice. Pour into 9 x 13 glass pan. Freeze for at least six hours. Scrape with the tines of a fork and place into a pretty glass for serving.

There's so many possibilities for a granita...add a splash of vodka or tequilla, citrus fruits, coffee, herbs. I can't wait to experiement and create some new combinations.

Charlie's Afternoon Cake

Today we have a bonus creation for Chocolate With Francois. In order to try more of the wonderful recipes in Chocolate With Payard a little sooner, I will be choosing an occasional bonus creation.

Since we're approaching the holidays and because many of the creators also bake Sweet Melissa Sunday's or Martha Stewart's Cupcake Club, both of which have bakes today, this bonus bake needed to be simple. After reading through the book the simplest recipe seemed to be Charlie's Afternoon Cake. And it did not disappoint! What a simple and decadent cake this is!!!

I baked mine in a 8" round pan, instead of a 9" and it still appears to be much flatter than the cake in the cookbook. If you need a quick dessert, made with ingredients you are likely to have on hand, try this cake. Serve it with vanilla bean ice cream or creme fraiche.

Charlie's Afternoon Cake

10 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 ounces 60% (bittersweet) chocolate, chopped
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the sides and bottom of a 9 inche round cake pan with vegetable cooking spray. Dust it with flour, shaking off the excess, and set aside.

Bring the butter to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Stir to prevent burning. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate to the pan. Stir the mixture until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until well combined. Add the flour and mix well. Add the chocolate to the batter and stir until the mixture is just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 300 degrees and bake for an additional 8 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cook completely in the pan. Unmold, and serve.

Next up for Chocolate With Francois is Flourless Chocolate Cookies!